The German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia

The German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia (AgeCoDe) in primary care patients is an ongoing multicenter prospective study in elderly individuals with a focus on the identification of risk factors and predictors of cognitive decline and dementia.
Between January 1, 2003 and November 30, 2004 a total of 3327 subjects free of dementia at baseline were recruited from general practitioner (GP) registries and assessed with structured clinical interviews and cognitive tests. Since then, participants as well as their proxies were interviewed by trained staff every 1.5 years. In 2016 follow-up 9 was completed.
Main inclusion criteria were ages greater than 75 years, native German language, absence of severe hearing or vision impairments, and residing at home rather than in an institution.
The approval of this study was provided by the local ethics committees of the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg, D’sseldorf, Heidelberg/Mannheim, Leipzig, and Munich. All subjects gave written informed consent before the participation in this study.

Of the 3,327 patients interviewed at baseline, 84.8% (n = 2,820) could be personally interviewed 1.5 years later and 73.9% (n = 2,460) 3 years later. For the vast majority of subjects who could not be personally interviewed, systematic assessments, focusing particularly on dementia, were obtained from GPs, relatives or caregivers.

Last Update 21/09/2017

Types General population-based cohort
Participant Types No diagnosis
Countries Germany
Genders Male and Female
Sample sizes 0 to 4,999
Ages 60 to 100
Brain related measures Cognitive function|Mental health|Neurological
Funtional rating Individual psychological
Anthropometric
Physical
Biological samples Blood
Genotyping Gene screening
Brain imaging
Brain banking
Lifestyle Alcohol|Dietary habits|Physical activity|Smoking
Socio-economic Education|Housing and accommodation
Health service utilisation
Institute names Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
Current Sample Sizes 0 to 4,999

age at recruitment >75
last updated
recruitment period
estimated current sample size number value
cohort acronym AgeCoDe
start date
pi Dr Siegfried Weyerer
website http://www.alzrisk.org/cohort.aspx?cohortID=45&rfid=12
contact details
abstract  AgeCoDe is a prospective study with a focus on the identification of risk factors and predictors of cognitive decline and dementia. Between 2003-2004 3327 participants were recruited aged over 75.
funders  German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
contact email Email: [email protected]
contact phone number 
estimated current sample size 0 to 4,999
sample sizes 3327